The candidate, Charles Hicks, seeks to enhance his capabilities in mentoring new investigators in the conduct of patient-oriented clinical research in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. He will build on his recent accomplishments in this area which derived from opportunities afforded by an initial cycle of K24 grant funding. The focus will be on innovative investigator-initiated research protocols to be developed by the trainees under the supervision of the principal investigator. This approach permits the new investigator to experience the entire spectrum of clinical research from generation of a research hypothesis, creation of a research protocol, achieving IRB approval, collection of data, and writing a research paper for publication. In the first cycle of funding under this program, considerable success was achieved with a number of mentored young scientists. Three areas of HIV-related research are proposed for this grant. First is a new program to improve the approach to diagnosis of HIV infection by increasing HIV test rates in at risk populations. A second area extends an established program investigating management issues in HIV-infected patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) including timing of therapy initiation and management of HIV rebound. Finally, an ongoing collaborative project on diagnosis and treatment of patients with primary HIV infection (PHI) is proposed to offer additional opportunities for mentoring new clinical research investigators. The environment in which this work will take place is a strong, established setting for HIV research. The Duke AIDS Research and Treatment (DART) Center clinic currently cares for almost 1400 HIV-infected patients and includes an AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) unit and numerous industry-supported protocols. A computerized database with extensive information catalogued on the clinic population and a large specimen repository containing over 8000 patient specimens are available. Dr. Hicks will build on his established record as a successful mentor for medical students, residents, and Infectious Diseases fellows. The combination of a highly developed program in HIV clinical research, a well trained clinical research physician, and bright, interested, and involved trainees creates an extraordinary opportunity for success in accomplishing the goals of this program announcement. [unreadable] [unreadable]